WT Business Beat

By Nick Wakeman

No earmarks for fiscal 2020 budget

An elixir so many believe will cure many of our budget woes won’t be available for the fiscal year 2020 appropriations season.

House Democrats decided against using earmarks despite the lobby efforts of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer who worked with Democrats and Republicans to try to find an agreement.

But House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowy (D-New York) said in a letter to other lawmakers that there isn’t a bipartisan agreement, according to Politico.

Hoyer, however, will continue working with leaders on both sides of the aisle to find a way forward.

When I interviewed former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Virginia) for our Project 38 podcast, he described earmarks as a powerful tool for getting the two parties to work together. Without them, there is little reason to cooperate on spending bill and other initiatives.

This development is a little troubling. Congress is coming up on a deadline. They need to pass a budget agreement because without a new agreement, the Budget Control Act and its mandatory budget caps will come back. The ugliness of sequestration will return.

I’m not saying that earmarks are the sole answer. But maybe they would help.